


The Demon Child

by Fidget_the_Crazy



Series: Time Centric Mayhem (‘cause that’s all I ever do) [5]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: BEN is an AWFUL person... no... thing, Buried Alive, Childhood Trauma, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, I'll add tags as we go, Kidnapping, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Rewrite, Suicide Attempt, This is gonna be dark, Tourture, mentions of cannibalism (that's not what actually happens but still it's there), tormenting characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:08:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29457264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fidget_the_Crazy/pseuds/Fidget_the_Crazy
Summary: A LU fic, but BEN is giving Time a rough... time.This is also a rewrite of my first fic here, sooooo....Laughs nervously
Relationships: Malon (Legend of Zelda)/Time (Linked Universe)
Series: Time Centric Mayhem (‘cause that’s all I ever do) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2119353
Comments: 7
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, this is what I’m being called now? Okay.  
> Hey, at least it’s accurate, and better than Mr. Computer Glitch.  
> Fair. Besides the little boys don’t even know what those are.  
> Of course they don’t, Why would they? Anyway, here, have a very very very very very dark BEN fic. And a bunch of Time whump. Because that's all I can write. Poor boi. I still love you, Time.  
> Ehhhhh he can take care of himself. I mean, he survived what I did and even learned to cope with it and eventually find happiness. So he can take a little bit more abuse, right?  
> … I guess… He’ll be fine! _Que random eye twitches _When I was originally making this, LA Arts helped a lot with ideas, and I still give a shout out to her! and shout out to some other people on the discord for giving me the braincell to finally rewrite this dumpster fire!__  
>  HEY!!!  
> I'M NOT SORRY

The air was changing. 

The well in Kakariko Village was empty. 

Odd. There was usually an entity that resided in there. No, it wasn’t the creature with the infinite hands, no, it was something much darker. Much more twisted, much more intelligent than a mindless redead. 

A Demon Child. Not many villagers knew of his existence. Perhaps it was for the best. But on the other hand, if everyone knew, they would have sealed up that well long ago. That particular well was drained for years, and a new one was built because of something that a peculiar youth had told the villagers, something about death, and blood, and hands. 

That was many years ago. And that Demon Child was going to get revenge on that youth. He was the one responsible for sealing him there in the first place. 

I’m going to come find you, Link. All those years ago, ɎØɄ ₴ⱧØɄⱠĐ₦’₮ Ⱨ₳VɆ ĐØ₦Ɇ ₮Ⱨ₳₮.

* * *

  
  


It would take a couple days to get to the ranch from where they were now. It was near dusk, and they just set up camp. Wild cooked as Twilight watched the sun set, Legend and Four talked about blacksmithing techniques, Warriors polished his armor as he conversed with Hyrule, Wind expressed to Sky about how Skyloft reminded him of the Great Sea, as they had just returned from the Chosen's home, and Time watched his the boys in their activities. 

He loved each of them. He loved Wind’s boyish tenacity, optimism, and following in the hero’s footsteps to protect his family. He loved Sky’s reflexes despite his sleepiness, and the way he would light up about his Zelda. He loved Legend’s musical talents and his way of caring for his brothers, despite his cynical view of life. He loved Hyrule’s curiosity, kindness, genuine humility, and his love for fairies. He loved Four’s wisdom and levelheadedness. He loved Warrior’s dedication and his ability to plan strategies on the fly. He loved Wild’s… well, wildness, even though it could get in the way sometimes, and improvisation skill in battle. He loved Twilight’s way of being a big brother to the others, and that he had a humble rancher background, something that reminded him of his wife. He loved them as if they were his own. In some cases, quite literally. He wanted to keep them all safe. All safe from the dangers and trauma that he had gone through. Even though they had trauma of their own already, like Legend. He didn’t want any more bad things happening to them is all. And he would do anything in his power to keep it that way. 

Especially now.

Ever since they arrived here not two days ago, every night each one of them felt the feeling of being watched. Someone in the shadows, lurking. It was especially prevalent in the forests. Time remembered feeling this sense of dread when _he_ was still terrorizing him. He remembered those days well. Too well. He was getting fed up with this feeling. It usually came up when they were all sleeping. Or at least trying to. Time didn’t want to think about what the feeling was, but he supposed that he had no choice but to investigate. 

He made sure that he had night watch, with Twilight as his companion. It wasn’t the third night anyway, as he would only sleep until three days had passed, so he wouldn’t be betting any sleep. He could tell that some of the boys were having trouble sleeping. The temperature in the air was dropping. Time figured that this was the time for him to go and figure out what was happening. 

He stood up from his spot, but didn’t go anywhere. Twilight was eyeing him. 

“We're ya goin’?” The rancher asked, “you're not gonna try and find whatever’s makin’ the air feel cold, right?”

Twilight wasn’t stupid, that’s for sure. Time replied; “I think it’s about time we figured out what it is. It’s starting to feel a bit _too_ foreboding for my taste.” 

“You expected to keep watch over the others while you went ahead and scouted, didn’t cha?”

Time chuckled guiltily. “That was the plan. It looks like you’re trying to make it so that doesn’t happen though, yes?”

“Emphasis on _tryin’_ , Pops.”

They both heard a slight rustle in the trees. Someone who wasn’t paranoid would have chalked it up to a nocturnal woodland critter skittering across the forest floor. But Time and Twilight were in no mood for that. 

“I think that’s my cue, Pup,” Time said. He grabbed his sword and shield, hefting them both. He didn’t have to worry about his armor, since he still had it on. 

“Be careful please,” Twilight pleaded, “I don’t want ya to get hurt.” 

Time gave him a small smile. “I think I can handle myself.” He trudged into the woods, 

He didn’t have to do much to notice something in the trees. A figure stood there, watching from afar. He got closer, trying to see what it was. _Step. Step. Step._ The figure looked stationary. It was probably something placed there. _Like a statue_ . He didn’t like where this was going. There was only one “person” that he knew that could summon statues at will, and he was _not_ going there.

The figure disappeared, fading way from view. He did _not_ like that. The more he saw, the more he thought of _him._

Then he heard that sound. 

It was a droning hum that slurred up the musical scale, eerie and almost like a painful moan. The sound that resonated whenever a statue came into being if he played a certain song. The sound that haunted him when he ran through dark hallways trying to get away from the entity chasing him. 

He turned around, and there it was. 

One of those sick statues that still haunted his dreams. This one wasn’t like the ones he would summon. It had its own little flavoring. The skin was a dead white, and the eyes were sunken in, like voids with spheres of red and yellow in the center of them. They were staring into his own. 

“I FOUND Y O U.”

Time’s face paled. It was _him_. He was right. He was startled out of his skin, but he was right. That demon child was here. Why was he here? He was supposed to be imprisoned! What happened!? Did he somehow get out!?

“Did you think you were safe?” Hands appeared on the shoulders of the statue. A childish figure was behind it. The child had a sickly white complexion just like the statue, and he looked to be around twelve to fourteen. He looked too skinny, nigh malnourished. He wore the trademark green hat the Time and the other boys used to wear themselves, but his green tunic was covered by a blue one, both tunics ripped at the hems. His blonde hair ended brunette, and a green streak graced his left sideburn. His face had that smile plastered on that Time hated with a _passion_ , the smile that gave him nightmares. The smile that let him know that his loved ones, especially himself, were nowhere near safe. his eyes were dark like tar, with only red irises that seemed to move through a sea of endless black. 

“Did you think that I wouldn’t find you? That I wouldn’t reach you here?”

Time stammered. “Wh… How…”

“Why should I tell you?” The boy questioned, “I just wanted to say hello to a _dear friend_.” Those last two words were spit out like venom, and the grip that the boy had on the statue tightened. 

“Hey Old Man!” Oh. Oh no. OH NO. They don’t need to be involved in this! 

His son Twilight was somewhere nearby. “We heard you scream. Are you okay?” … wait, he screamed? 

“Don’t come near!” His voice was laced with panic. He could only hope that that would deter Twilight away. 

He heard footsteps quicken. 

Why.

“What’s happening?” Twilight was in view now. And he could see who tormented his mentor all those years ago, the boy who shoved him off the cliff of sanity. The statue was gone, and it was only Time, the Demon, and Twilight.

“Who are you?” Twilight demanded. 

“You haven’t told your companions who I am? What a shame. I am the Behavioral Event Network. You may call me BEN.” 

Time visibly cringed at BEN saying his name. “Do I cause that much discomfort?”

“You’re responsible for something traumatic in the past, aren’t you?”

“Aren’t you clever.”

Twilight raised the sword that was in his hand. The next thing that Twilight knew, the sword was getting knocked out of his hands. BEN was still standing where he was. Twilight looked back to see where his sword landed, and it was… pinned? By another odd looking short sword to a tree behind him. When Twilight turned around to look forward again, BEN was closer to him, His eyes a multicolored mess, and a smile laced with shrapnel teeth glaring at him. 

“Do you want to know how your friend lost his eye?” 

Oh. That gave Twilight some perspective on what he just walked into. If this 12? 13? year old child could take Time’s eye, a powerful man that seemed to be very steadfast and immovable, then Twilight might as well be dead already. 

“Hmmmmm, let’s see….” BEN pretended to think for a moment. Time was raising a hand to his sword. “Should I let you die slowly, or quickly? What do you think, Old Friend?”

Time swung his sword at BEN, being careful of Twilight. It sliced deeply into BEN’s back. The demon child simply turned and stared Time down with a very put out look. 

“Rude.” 

Oh dear. He shouldn’t have done that. BEN could do anything now and they’d both be dead. 

A new sword materialized in BEN’s hand, and he raised his arm to strike at Time. Time raised his shield in preparation for a barrage of attacks, but then BEN did something he didn’t expect. 

BEN turned around, striking at Twilight who sloppily blocked the attack. He wasn’t ready, and he didn’t have his sword with him. Time went forward and tried to direct BEN’s attention back to himself, but as Twilight backed up as he was getting overwhelmed, he grabbed the short sword that was pinning his own sword down and went to try and defend himself with it, but it disappeared out of his hands before he could do anything with it. 

“You think I’m stupid enough to let you fight with my own weapons?” BEN sneered. “Get your own!” 

While BEN talked, Time swiped at him again, but BEN moved out of the way, nearly getting Twilight instead. Time backed up significantly, horrified at what he could have done if he wasn’t careful. BEN took this opportunity to try and stab Time in the back, but an arrow whizzed through the trees and struck BEN in the shoulder. 

Twilight looked through the trees trying to see what helped them. He could see the glowing blue of a sheikah slate in the dark, and could hear a bow string drawn. 

Wild. 

BEN cursed. “How many more heroes are going to show up!?” 

There was more rustling. Time’s ears twitched, and could hear it coming from three separate places. 

“If you want to pick on one of us, you’re gonna have to deal with the rest of us.” That was Warrior speaking. 

BEN’s face turned into a grimace packed with rage. He could technically fight them all now and get it over with, but that wasn’t a good idea, was it? BEN’s face smoothed out and back was the shark-like smile that always had a home there. 

“Fine then,” BEN said, “I’ll wait.” a very sharp sound ringed out, it didn’t even echo, and BEN was suddenly gone, as if erased from existence without a trace. 

Time stood there dumbfounded. “He would never do that. This is too easy a situation to get out of.”

“I don’t think we’re out of this situation, Time,” Twilight said.

“I mean he would never have let us live like that. He’s toying with us again. He’s possibly out there waiting to strike again.”

“We should let the others know," Warrior said, sheathing his sword. “Some of the others are still at camp. Rancher woke us up when you screamed, Old man.” 

“What was that thing, Pops?” Legend asked, “he looked to be the type that would watch you in your sleep.”

Time shivered. He didn't want to think about that. But yes, the boys should know about BEN. but should they know about his past experiences with him?

“Let’s get back to camp before he separates us from them.”

They made it back to camp with no trouble, much to Time’s paranoia. 

Legend was the first to ask what happened. “So,” he asked, “what happened out in the woods before we got there? What could possibly make the Old Man scream like that?”

Time sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t want to remember the past, he really didn’t. But he didn’t have much of a choice, did he? “A very powerful and psychotic entity is loose,” Time replied. He just wanted to get the explanation over with before he had a panic attack over buried memories. 

“A psychotic entity?” Wind asked. He was clearly worried for his elder. 

“He said his name was BEN.” Twilight answered. 

“BEN, you say?” Four asked. “Seems a bit of a strange name for an entity who strikes fear into a courageous heart.”

Time didn’t know whether to take offense to that. “Silly name aside, he’s ruthless, and will kill anything that gets in the way of his motives.”

“What are his motives?” War asked.

Time stayed quiet. 

“Well?” Legend prodded. 

“Don’t rush him,” Wild chided. 

Time was still hesitant to answer. He didn’t want to scare them inadvertently. 

“To kill me,” he said quietly. 

There were expressions of surprise everywhere, many wide eyes staring at him. 

“Wait, BEN wants to kill you!?” Wind exclaimed. Well. might as well tell them the basics. 

“He was made to kill me. That’s his purpose.” That counts as the basics, right?

“I think you’re gonna have to tell us the full story, Old Man.” Legend pointed out.

Time didn't like this. Why did BEN have to come back again? He had enough trauma already, most of it because of what BEN and his creator did. Now he has to retell the story to eight other people that might not take the story well. 

Time sighed. He didn’t want to say anything about this at all. … perhaps he didn’t have to say anything after all! He raised his hands up, and started to sign. Wild took up translation for him. 

_“It was at the end of my second adventure. The evil that I fought against decided to try and get the last laugh by creating BEN to…”_ he grimaced, unwanted memories projecting in his mind, _“torment and eventually kill me. Let’s just say that he made life hell for me. I nearly died because of him.”_ He left out the part where BEN got other people he cared about involved. He left out the part where he tormented his mind for years. He left out the lasting impact that it had on him. 

“I’m willing to bet that he was the reason your eye is ruined?” Legend piped up.

Time’s hands went motionless. Legend was smart. Very smart, had the wisdom of someone with too much experience. 

“...he is.” He spoke this time.

There was a collective silence in the group. He could see the realization creep on to everyone’s faces, well except for legend. He seemed to have seen everything at this point. 

“He…” Hyrule timidly said, “he took your eye?”

“He did”. 

He felt arms wrap around him from behind. Those arms belonged to Wild. 

“It’s okay,” He said, his voice quiet. “You’re here with us. You’re safe.” 

“Yeah, we all had our experiences, we’ll help you through this as well!” Wind said. Oh how Time admired the boys’ optimism.

“Yeah! Plus you have eight other heroes here that are willing to help, I’m sure we can defeat him!” Sky tacked on.

They didn’t know what happened during that final battle. They didn’t know why he had those war-like markings on his face. They didn’t know what he needed to do to defeat that demonic boy. They didn’t know how much it took to neutralize the demon. 

“Sure.” 

The feeling of dread was still there. Looks like he’ll be staying up for more nights than normal. 

~~They wouldn’t notice if he cried that night, would they?~~

* * *

  
  


As they talked and tried to console their eldest companion, the Demon Child watched from within the shadowed forest.

You think you can hide behind children? Fine. They don’t know what they’re up against. I’d end up killing them anyway. You’ll see. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: allusions to cannibalism.   
> Really? Cannibalism? Look here, if I were a cannibal, I’d be trying to eat Calamity Ganon or something. I can eat buckets of Hylians and it wouldn’t be cannibalism.   
> Point taken. But what of fairies?   
> Those are tasty magic. bugs. Like humans eating monkeys. Now get out of my hair.  
> Oooookay. y’all get the idea, right?   
> Pretty sure they do, Fidget. Now get on with the writing.

The night was quiet. Too quiet. Time didn’t like it. It felt artificial, and foreboding, promising the worst of luck. The feeling of being watched was still there. He knew  _ he _ was still there. But he didn’t know where. 

He spent the night paranoid, and on the verge of tears. His life was bliss. He took it for granted. Why did he ever think he could achieve happiness? What did he ever do to deserve this torment? He just wanted to be home and not have to worry about this anymore. He was being thrown into the past, the past of agony, tears, and trauma. The life of a child trying to get away from the horrors of his adventures only to have his eyes pried open to face the terror that did so much damage. Memories long buried finally clawed their way to the surface forced him to remember how BEN had hurt him, and dragged loved ones into the mess. 

A hand had to pull him away from his malevolent thoughts. He was glad that someone else was on night watch with him. He probably wouldn’t be stable enough in the morning if he was alone. 

The morning sun slowly crawled it’s way up the sky, and there was still no sign of BEN besides the chill in the air. 

Time didn’t like this one bit. 

When they started packing camp away, Wind brought up the horrid creature again. 

“Do we have a plan for when we see that BEN guy again?” 

“Hopefully we don’t come across him again,” Time replied. “I don’t want this to drag on more than it should, and I don’t want you boys to get involved either.”

“Oh, come on! We can handle ourselves! Heck, I stabbed Ganondorf in the head! We’re all heroes here!” 

Well, he was right. But they still didn’t know what a huge threat he was. “Yes, you are, but even heroes face the most difficult trials, and BEN is a hard hitter. If we want to deal with him, we have to be prepared for the unpredictable, and be absolutely careful.” 

“Sure thing,  _ Dad _ ."

...Sure. He’ll go with that. 

When they set off on the road again, Time was on edge the entire time. BEN was following them, and he knew it. He just didn’t know where he was, and he hated it. He was sure the other boys also felt it. He could feel the air constrict around them. A feeling he was too familiar with. It gave Time a feeling of twisted nostalgia.

  
Legend noticed how on edge Time was. He understood why one would be on edge if they were mentally tortured for how long he may have gotten subjected to it.

Legend could relate to him in his own way. He had seen much on his own, and a lot of it gave him trauma of his own to deal with. Sometimes the goddess really was merciless. 

He walked up to where Time was and stayed by his side. He could use a mental anchor right now. And Time figured this reasoning too. He whispered a small ‘thanks’ to him. 

How cute. Which one should I pick off first? The Mutt is too easy. The Island Child… hm. I’ll save him for later. How about the Warmonger?

* * *

Traveling to Lon Lon Ranch was relatively uneventful, and It still gave Time anxiety. That didn’t stop them from taking a small break for lunch, albeit they were still on guard. Warrior took the opportunity to fill up his water canteen. 

“Be sure to take someone with you, Captain,” Twilight said. 

“Okay then, you’re coming with me!” Warrior declared. He patted Twilight shoulder and encouraged him to get on his feet and follow. 

They both walked over to where they heard a lazy flowing river. They didn’t stray that far from camp to get to it. Warrior went to go fill his canteen when he heard something in the distance. 

“Do you hear that, Rancher?” Warrior asked. 

Twilight stood still, his ears twitching, trying to detect anything Warrior might be talking about. “What is it I’m supposed to be hearin’?”

“Someone crying.” 

Twilight’s face scrunched up in suspicion. His ears twitched some more, and he seemed to catch crying in the distance over the peaceful river. 

“I hear it.” 

“What do you think it is?” Warrior asked, “Do you think it’s BEN?”

“It probably is. Who else could be out here in the middle of nowhere?” 

Warrior put a hand on his sword after he filled up his canteen. “Shall we go scouting?” 

“Don’t get cocky, Pretty Boy.” Twilight unsheathed his own sword and held it tightly this time. He wasn’t going to let it get out of his grip. 

“I’ll try.” 

They followed the crying, and they found glimpses of a green tunic and a small boy that looked way too familiar to Warrior. 

“…Mask?”

What was he doing here!? Mask was Time, he knew this! So what was he doing here!? He needed to go find him, see what was happening! 

He went to follow Mask, but a hand held him back. 

“This could be a trap, Captain! Who knows what BEN can do!”

“But what if that  _ is  _ Mask!?”Warrior shouted, “I need to know what’s going on, and if it is BEN, then we can try and get him this way!”

“You’re not thinking about this! You’re supposed to be the strategist, use your head!”

Warrior ripped away from Twilight’s iron grip. “I’m gonna go find him! I need closure!”

Twilight’s mouth pressed into a thin line. 

“Keep your guard up,  _ Captain _ .” 

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

They followed the distressed cries, and found his younger brother from the war. He really was here. Oh how he missed him.

“Hey,” Warrior started, “Are you okay? Remember me?”

Mask still cried. 

Warrior went to wrap his scarf around the poor boy, but when the child lifted his face, he was met with black eyes, bloody tears, and a very awful, fang filled smile. 

_ “ɎØɄ’ⱤɆ ₴Ʉ₵Ⱨ ₳ ₲ØØĐ ฿ł₲ ฿ⱤØ₮ⱧɆⱤ.” _

Twilight acted as fast as he could. “I TOLD YOU WE SHOULDN’T’ ‘AVE FOLLOWED HIM, CAP!” 

He acted too late. BEN grabbed the Knight, and vanished, the sharp “ding” filling Twilight’s ears. 

Time was gonna kill him.

* * *

“Where’s the Captain and Rancher?” Wind asked. “It’s been a while since they left camp.”

“Pretty Boy was going to get water, yeah?” Legend threw in. 

“Yeah, but I haven't haven’t seen any other signs of them coming back, plus, neither of them are here, obviously.”

Time started to panic. Neither Warrior or Twilight had come back yet. He knew when they left, and he knew what likely happened. “We have to find them,” he stated, “If we find out that BEN got to one of them or even both, I won’t be able to forgive myself. 

Then don’t. You never deserved it anyway.

“GUYS!!!!” That was Twilight’s Voice, did something happen!? “HE TOOK THE CAPTAIN!”

...

Oh no. 

Time’s eye went wide with panic. “What? What happened!? Did he get out of your reach?” 

“Swiped him from under my nose, he took the form of a little kid that he claimed to know!” 

“The Demon can shapeshift!?” Legend shouted, “You never told us that, Old Man, that would have been nice to know beforehand!” 

“We have to find him, now! We’ll split up! Four, Wild and Hyrule, go together, the rest of us we’ll go there the river is!” 

It took a bit too long to find him. All of them soon grew worried, hoping that he wasn’t dead. 

“Guys,” Sky called to the others of his group, “ I found him!”

And what a mess they found. 

They found him bleeding and broken, a nasty wound on his neck. His arms were broken, and some ribs were snapped like feeble twigs. He looked like death. They administered as many healing potions they could afford, and took the felled Captain back to camp. When they got him back, Time nearly fainted. Hyrule did as much healing as he could on Warrior, and luckily they brought him to a stable condition. 

“I think it will be a while ‘till he wakes up,” Hyrule claimed.

“That make on his neck,” Four mused, “It looks like a bite mark.” 

“He’s not poisoned, thank Hylia,” Hyrule said, “Does he have poisonous traits?”

Time thought for a moment. “Not that I know of. I don’t think so.” 

Four looked like he was contemplating something. Something awful. “Is BEN…” he hesitated to guess.

“He’s not above eating people.” Time answered. Four and Hyrule blanched. Wild coughed into his sleeve. Sky looked like he was about to throw up. Wind looked sickly as well, but not as much as Sky did. Twilight looked absolutely livid and Legend was appalled at what that alluded to. Warrior still looked sickly, but a bit better, with the “medicine” he was given. 

“He’s…” Wind started, “He’s a…” he couldn’t finish what he was going to say.

“He’s not hylian,” Time saved him before he could finish the dreadful sentence. “If he was I wouldn’t have ever believed it. He’s too far from humane to be someone like us.”

“If he were a hylian, I’d hate to be one myself,” Legend growled. “If he took down one of our strongest fighters, then what else is he capable of?”

Time thought about what they were dealing with again. It had been a long time ever since having to go through what BEN did to him, and a lot of these things were tied to some awful and repressed memories, but he would have to remember them nonetheless. 

He resorted to signing again.  _ “He can enter into people’s dreams,”  _ Time thought some more.  _ “He can summon these statues, and can see through them-”  _

“Kind of like a video camera?” Wild chimed in.

Time’s mind, and some of the others, blanked. “I… What?” 

“Never mind…”

Time decided to continue signing. Might as well get this over with.  _ “He can summon weapons, some of which are similar to your arsenal.” _ he gestured towards Twilight and Wild. 

“Is that why you looked pretty out of it when I used my ball and chain?” Twilight asked. 

“Yes. he used that a lot.”

They decided against traveling for a while. It didn’t take long before a groan pierced the silence. Warrior opened his eyes. 

“Are you okay?” Time asked. “You gave us quite the scare there.”  _ You gave  _ me _ quite the scare. _

“BEN…” Warrior coughed. “he caught me off guard…”

“He caught us all off guard to be honest,” Legend admitted. Twilight gave him a suspicious look. 

“Heh… well… at least I’m alive, right?”

Time laughed nervously. “Yeah.”

“Don’t strain yourself, Captain,” Hyrule said. “We don’t want you to reopen any wounds.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

“Should we still go to Lon Lon?” Wild asked. “Or is that not an option anymore?”

Time didn’t think of that. What if BEN hurts Malon? He’s hurt people close to him before. Like Saria. Should he go back home? Should he stay away from home? What should he do? If he stays away that makes her susceptible to getting hurt, or worse, killed without knowing, and BEN most likely knows where the ranch is. If he does go there, then it’s guaranteed that Malon would get involved, and more likely to get hurt if Time’s with her, since BEN wants to torment him. But maybe she should know. He’s told her everything, she knows about BEN. BEN wouldn't kill her, Right? 

“Should we stay away from Malon?” Twilight asked. “Keep her out of the drama?” 

“If we stay away, then BEN will probably kill her while I’m not there,” Time rebutted. “I don’t want her to get in harm's way. I also don’t want her to get involved, but she should know what’s happening.”

“She wouldn’t get hurt if we’re there, would she?” Sky asked. 

“I hope not. He probably would hurt her right in front of me if he had the chance. But let’s hope for the best.” That would be hard. Aside from Legend, he was one of the more pessimistic heros. 

“So are we going?” Wild asked. “I’d want to see if she’s safe as well.”

“Yeah,” Wind chimed in, “I wanna see her again. She’s nice.”

Yes, quite a nice target.

“Let’s go then,” Time answered. “Might as well make sure that BEN hasn’t gotten to her first.” 

Don’t tempt me, Skin Taker.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooooooooooo boy!!!!! I get to kill a certain wife!!!!  
> No. Don’t. _I’m_ the author. Not you. Go find someone else to kill.  
>  >:( Where are those LU emotes when you need them!?  
> Don’t worry, you get your fun.  
>  I’m rarely in this chapter, Fidget.  
> Too bad for you! By the way, this one is one of the heavier chapters, the reason why we have one of the archive warnings. Head the tags! And Suffer.

Malon looked out the window of the kitchen, waiting for her Husband and those boys that they both took to loving to come home. When they would come home, she did not know, but she was a patient woman.

She massaged her belly and sighed. Despite her patience, she hoped that they would come home soon. she wanted to tell her fairy boy in person and not just through letters. It wasn’t too long ago that she had received the news; only eight weeks had passed since then.

She didn’t notice the statue with the demonic eyes in the shadows, watching. It would vanish from sight when she would turn in it’s direction. Reappear somewhere else. 

Hmm. This makes things complicated.

* * *

  
Warrior was carried by Time, and when tired, would switch out with Twi, then alternate again. The night fell across the sky and stars dotted its canvas, camp was set up, and no sign of BEN. 

_‘He didn’t go to the ranch before us, did he?’_ Time found himself thinking during dinner, ‘ _He could have overheard us and we gave him an idea. Oh Hylia. What if Malon’s already dead?’_

I told you not to tempt me.

“I can practically hear you fretting over there, Old Man,” Legend snarked. 

“He has a pretty valid reason,” Sky defended. “I’d be worried out of my mind if someone like _that_ has possibly endangered my Zelda.”

“True.” 

“It’ll be fine, little brother,” Warrior whispered, his voice a bit raspy from still healing, “BEN didn’t kill me, I’m fairly certain that he won’t kill your wife. I think he’s a softie inside.”

~~_ I AM NOT!!!!! _ ~~

Little brother. He remembers. Time didn’t think he would. 

“I missed you,” Warrior added. “When you went back to your time.”

“I missed you, too.”

He wanted to cry. But he didn’t. He couldn’t. 

Those are the exact thoughts you had all those years ago. 

“It’s okay to cry,” Warrior comforted. 

The tears were silent. He was thankful for that. He felt Warrior’s arms wrap around him.

Soon the others caught on and joined the hug fest. Oh how Time loved his boys. He loved them so much. He just wanted to get away from all of this, take the boys with him, to keep them safe. He was done with this hero work, why did Hylia have to call him back!? Why did she have to get these precious boys involved in such dirty, nasty work!? _And why of all things did BEN have to come back!?_ He wanted to be done, and he wanted to bring the boys home with him. His family. His sons. None of them deserved the hand they were dealt. 

He had to get home. Now. 

No, he shouldn’t do this to himself. Don’t rush. He needed sleep. Now. 

“Good night, boys,” Time said, voice shaky from crying. 

There were some ‘good nights’ and ‘G’night Old Man’ peppered throughout their little Link Pile. Warrior was soft enough to say ‘goodnight, Dad’. Heh. Might as well own up to it. Some boys let go to tend to their own things and such, others stayed latched onto him. Warrior sadly had to stay out of the cuddle pile that they made because of his healing. They all fell asleep in that adorable pile, with Time in the middle of it. He was so grateful to have them with him. 

I’M KNOCKING ON YOUR DOOR, WARMONGER. SOON YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF IN A DIFFERENT PLACE WHEN YOU WAKE UP. 

* * *

Time was one of the first to wake up. And he was surrounded by his sons. And they were closer to Malon. He needed to get there. He felt that pull get home. He always did, but it was much stronger now. 

Now for the current problem: how to get out of the Link Pile. He was in the center, and some of his limbs were claimed by the others, one of them definitely being Sky, being the cuddlebug he is. 

Well, might as well wake some of them up if they want to get to the ranch as quickly as possible. He was still careful though, but he wasn’t afraid of taking some of his limb that served as the boy’s pillows away. Wind was not happy. 

“Hey…” Wind was still half asleep, “Do we have to go now?”

“If we want to make sure Malon is okay, then we do.”

That seemed to wake up Wind a bit more. “Okay.”

The others were waking up now. Time looked over to where Warrior was. The knight was sleeping peacefully, his scarf covering him up for extra warmth.

… 

that wasn’t there before. He insisted that it not get bloody. Did he move in his sleep to cover himself? 

… 

The more Time looked, the more odd the scene got. The more odd it got, the more dread sunk into his stomach.

“Well that looks a bit melodramatic,” Legend snarked, “you look pretty mopey, Pretty Boy!” 

Time stepped closer to Warrior. He kneeled down next to him, and patted his shoulder gently. 

“Captain?” Time asked. He hated feeling in his chest. “Are you awake?” 

No response. 

“Captain?” He shook him a bit harder this time. “Wake up!” Time lifted the scarf. 

He wished he didn’t. 

His visage was deathly pale, his eyes were open and glazed over, dry from not blinking. He looked so _wrong_ and it was disgusting. 

He found that Wind was watching over his shoulder. He wasn’t there before. 

“Captain?” Time could _hear_ the tears in Wind’s eyes reflected in his voice. “Are you…”

Twilight rushed over and felt for a pulse. He stayed silent. His face conveyed the worst. 

“I don’t feel anything.”

Wind’s tears flowed freely. “But…. but he was healing! He was fine last night! He was healing!” His speech was enveloped in sobs. “He was fine...”

Twilight looked empty. He stared off into nothing, trapped in his mind. Most likely blaming himself. Legend looked the same way, but a lot more in shock. Sky was openly crying along with Wind. Wild had his hands covering his face. Time couldn't tell if tears were running down them or not. He looked too still to be lucid. Four looked like a war was waging in his mind. Hyrule covered his mouth. He was crying as well, but he was doing a very good job at keeping himself quiet. 

Time felt like screaming. But he felt like breaking down at the same time. He was tired, and he wanted this to end. He got attached to these boys, and now he had to pay the price and mourn the death of someone that he loved. Again. What if one of the others dies? What if Malon is dead as well? What if- 

Wind was yelling. 

“WAKE UP!!!” He desperately shook the lifeless body that used to belong to the Knight. “PLEASE, YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP!!” 

“He’s dead, Sailor!” Legend bit back, “We can’t do anything about it!” 

“DO WE NOT HAVE ANY FAIRIES!? WE HAVE TO GET HIM TO LIVE AGAIN!!” 

“We don’t know how long he’s been dead, It may not work!” Hyrule stated, “Fairies can only revive people who have just barely died. It won’t work on someone who’s been dead for more than Half an hour. It’s a pretty short window, Sailor.” 

“We have to try! We have to!” 

Wild whipped out his sheikah slate, and a fairy came out of the screen. It flitted away from him and landed near Time. 

“Hello little one,” Time fretted, his voice quiet, “we could use some help from you.” He pointed to where Warrior lay. “ You see him over there? Can you revive him?” 

The fairy gilded towards him and grabbed the scarf that covered the rest of his body. It took the fabric from his chest, uncovering an old looking stab wound that wasn’t there before. 

“That’s not fresh,” Sky pointed out, “That must have happened hours ago.” 

Wind’s face contorted into one of anger. “I’m gonna kill him,” he whispered. “That… that…” he was so angry he couldn’t come up with what to call the Demon that watched from afar like he was watching the most entertaining show in the world. 

The fairy inspected the wound, then a tingling sound radiated from it, and it flew back to Time. Time visibly wilted. 

“There’s nothing we can do,” Time whispered, “He’s long since dead.” He wasn’t going to use the Song of Time. It was tempting, but he swore off of manipulation time, and this was no exception. He felt like this was a bad idea, but he was stubborn.

“What do we do with his body?” Twilight asked. Tear streaks ascended his face. “We can’t just leave him here, and he’s from another world entirely, we can’t just leave him displaced in time like this!” 

“I…” Time faltered. He could feel his soul aching. “I don’t know what we can do. I’m not sure there’s anything we can really do besides bury him here. It’s awful, but I’m not sure we have much of a choice.” 

You could simply play it a song and wear its face like a mask.

They buried him near the road. It was a simple grave, a grave marker that consisted of a piece of wood carved by Sky reading “Here lies Link; a brother, a friend, and an honorable soldier. They kept his scarf and some other tools he had with him with them as a momento. After they paid their last respects, they set out on the road again. 

They traveled with no interruptions. It unnerved Time. It felt too quiet. It felt empty, like a piece was missing. Soon enough, Lon Lon Ranch came into view. 

_Oh Hylia, finally! Home sweet home!!_ Time was anxious to get home, and the pull to get through the front door and hug his beautiful wife was stronger than ever. If she was even alive, that is. He finally got to open that door and see his angel standing near the entrance room. They embraced, and Time never wanted to let go. He had lost too much already, he wasn’t going to leave her. He wasn’t going to lose her. 

“I’ve missed you so much, Mavourneen,” Time whispered to her. 

“I missed you too, Fairy Boy,” Malon nuzzled her nose against the crook of his neck. She could sense the distress that he was in. 

“How have you been? Has your father given you any trouble?”

“No trouble I can’t handle! And I’m doing alright, lucky I’m not feeling sick right now since there’s a baby on the way.” 

That’s good. This is good. She’s safe. She hasn’t been touched. 

Wait. She. She what? 

“I’m with child, Sweetie.”

Time’s mind was reeling. He was gonna be a father?! Wh-! This was amazing! He hoped that he’d turn out to be a good father, seeing as he had eight boys to look after and protect on this little… adventure… 

realization overtook him. BEN was still out there. Heck, he was probably here at one point. Probably here right now. And now Malon was with child. BEN would stop at nothing to make him suffer. He’s not below killing children. Let alone his own. He already took away Warrior, he was ruthless enough to kill her and their child before it would see the light of day.

“Sweetie?”

Oh. He was staring at nothing. 

“I…” He knew he should be happy. He really should. He was happy for a moment. But that moment is gone, replaced with dread. 

“This is wonderful news!” He settled on that. It was half hearted, even the rest of the boys could tell. 

“There’s something wrong,” Malon was having none of this, was she? “Do you want to tell me what’s eating you privately?”

“Uh...” The boys already knew. He thought that it would be fine to let them be there. But on the other hand, this is his wife. It would probably best he tell her personally. 

“Please,” he finally answered. “I’d like that.”

* * *

“So BEN is back?” Malon was both afraid and angry. If BEN was supposed to be imprisoned, then what, or who, let him out? 

“And he…” Time couldn’t say anything about it without tears springing forth. “Did you notice that the Captain was not here?” 

Malon covered her mouth with a hand. “Are you saying that BEN killed him?” 

Time nodded.

“Oh… Oh dear... I… I am so sorry, Hun, you must feel so awful! I’m sure that the boys feel that way too.” 

“It affected the Sailor the most. He has his scarf with him.” 

I’m sure it has. I’ve seen how he looked up to him.” Malon paused and rubbed Time’s back. “Are you doing okay? Is there anything else you need to tell me?” 

I’m sure that I’ve told you all the basics. I just feel so… Tired.” 

“Is there something that can keep him at bay?”

“I… Don’t know. And before you ask, I don’t want to use that mask again.” That _particular_ mask was _definitely_ out of the question. He was not using that again. Not after it marked him. 

“You might have to use it.” 

“I know.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Try not to get involved. I don’t want that demon of a kid hurting you.” 

“He wouldn’t kill a pregnant woman, would he?”

“I’m certain he would.”

Malon was really worried now. But she couldn’t just let him suffer on his own. She cupped his cheeks and wiped his tears away. 

“Link. Sweetie. Don’t let yourself fall down that pit again. I’m here for you. Always. And plus, you have eight other boys that care for you. Remember that you have people who love you and are willing to help.”

Time leaned into her touch. “Thank you, Mavourneen.”

“Of course, Fairy Boy.”

Oh really? You think they love you? How amusing. Nothing ever helps. The past is always there to haunt you. Don’t think you can just escape from the pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You told me to go kill someone else, so I did.  
> ... okay fair.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter actually didn't exist in the original text. I think it fixed a couple problems that the original had to be honest. Suffer even more!!  
> heheheh. I love my job.

That night was not kind to any of the boys. There were many who couldn’t sleep, either afraid of the nightmares, or the underlying fear that someone would be killed during the night. 

They all had nightmares. Past experiences twisted into something horrible and disturbing, what used to be calming being forged into something awful. If Legend would describe the experience to you, he would have told you that it was like living in Koholint again, only you  _ know _ it’s a dream, but you can’t escape, and you desperately want to. 

Twilight woke up in the middle of the night, spooked awake by a mirror shattering and the microscopic pieces raining down in him like spears, directed by an imp who never loved him. 

He stood up and left the room he and the boys slept in, and went downstairs to take a breather. He didn’t miss the eyes that followed him in the shadows. He was defenseless; he had no weapon to keep himself safe, and he was too out of it to care much.

“Let me guess,” Twilight sighed, “you’re here to kill me.” 

“Do you want me to?” 

“No, I don’t. I have a couple things I wanna do before I die. I don’t think you’re gonna let me go without some sort of wound, though, are ya.” 

“Perhaps. I just want to ask something.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. 

“Why didn’t you save the Warmonger?”  Twilight figured that he was messing with him, given the smile that was on the boys face.  “You had a nice big window to get him out of my grasp. Why didn’t you take it?” 

“I don’t think grabbin’ the Captain and then vanishin’ with him in tow in a split second counts as a ‘nice big window’ as you’re describin’ to me.”

“Before that. You could have done something.” 

He was talking about letting Warrior follow him, wasn’t he? “Look, I  _ tried. _ I did! He had this desperate look in his eyes, and he said somethin’ about getting closure. We’re all pretty stubborn, and I knew that I wasn't gonna be able to convince him to drop it.” 

“What does that mean?” A youthful voice asked behind him. “Rancher, Why are you talking to  _ him?” _

Twilight turned around to find Four standing at the entrance way to the second floor. “I came down here for a breather, and he was here.”

Four glared at the intruder. “Why are you here?” 

“Just asking some questions.”

“Like what?” 

“How the Mutt feels about being responsible for a Knight’s death.”

Four’s head snapped back to Twilight. “What’s he talking about?” 

“Just one second too late... I wonder if the Naïve One blames you. He should, really. Those two were very close.” 

Four heard Twilight mumble something under his breath, it sounded something like “You don’t have to shove even more guilt down my throat”. 

Four weighed the options. Twilight was there when Warrior got kidnapped, but at the same time, when he came back to camp, he was sacred just like the rest of them, and alerted them. If it was Twilight’s fault, he didn’t seem the type to go yelling for help back to camp. That is, if betrayal was part of his character, which, if Four had a say on it, didn’t fit in Twilight’s personality. It also looked like he had been internalizing blame on himself the entire time, especially when they discovered that Warrior was dead in the morning. Plus, BEN could be exaggerating things to get Four to hate Twilight. 

“Look, I’m not sure what happened with you and Warrior, but I do know this: you look like you feel very guilty about it, and that you’ve been blaming yourself for his death. I can’t say whether you’re responsible, but if Sailor starts attacking you, I’ll do my best to defend you. You’re someone that I can trust, and I can’t see you ever betraying the Captain like that.” 

Twilight’s shoulders lost the tension that was there. He slept out a relieved sigh, despite the lingering guilt he felt.

Four turned to BEN. There was something  _ wrong _ with him. He didn’t like it. He usually wasn’t a magically sensitive person. He couldn’t feel magic that was near like Hyrule or Legend could. But BEN was different. His aura was potent enough that Four was sure that a regular person dull to magic could touch the magic that surrounded him. It was as if magic was all BEN was. The most disturbing thing about it was that it reminded Four of himself. He could tell that BEN seemed… stitched together. Broken. Like him. A soul fractured by magic that would be impossible to recover from. He was certainly one person now, but now and again, he felt like there were four pieces of him that couldn’t fit in certain places. 

“What’s your deal?” He asked the demon, “I can feel the magic that surrounds you, and it feels broken. What are you really?” 

“ I am a nightmare waiting to happen. I am BEN.”

“Then explain why your aura feels stitched together like a doll. Are you fractured? Were you torn apart and never put back tougher properly?”

“I’m no fractured soul like you, Betrayer. I’m something much more Monstrous than that.”

“Betrayer?” Twilight asked, concern laced in his eyes. 

Four closed his eyes. He shouldn’t have tried to talk with him. “He was evil at the time. I was trying to save Hyrule. I do regret having to hurt him to achieve that goal. But we did give him a chance to redeem himself in the end.” 

“Is this something you’ll have to tell the others about? I feel like this is a big discovery, Smithy.” 

Four bowed his head and grabbed his arms, clearly not liking the idea. He sighed. 

“What is it you plan on doing, BEN?” 

BEN smirked.  “You should be watching each other’s backs, if that’s still possible after all trust has been broken and each one of you disappears one by one.”

“what  _ are _ you?” 

“MANY FORMS I’LL TAKE. MANY STORIES I’LL TELL. WHO AM I? YOU DECIDE.”

* * *

The morning was quiet. No one talked much, nothing really needed to be said. Everyone could tell that everyone had nightmares. They had a quiet breakfast, Malon assigned them chores, and they all kept their guards up. 

Wind’s mind was distracted as he did the work assigned to him. He couldn’t stop thinking about his nightmare, of the body of a dead comrade, a dead brother, being buried in a secluded place that rarely anyone would find unless they looked. He felt so empty, but so full of grief and pain at the same time. 

He thought of the demon that took his brother's life away. He thought of how he could try and defeat this new evil. No, not defeat. That wasn’t the right word. Demolish it. Kill it ruthlessly, make it feel the pain that he felt.

Once something precious is taken away, you become just the thing you wish to destroy. How poetic.

Next time they found that forsaken kid, Wind would teach him. He was able to defeat evils worse than him, he killed Ganondorf, he stopped Belum and Madaldus, he could demolish BEN if he wanted! He definitely could! And once he got to that point of their excursion, the taste of revenge would be sweet. 

Come and find me then,  _ coward! _

Wind finished with his task, and went upstairs to grab his gear without checking in with Malon or Time. This was His fight, they didn’t need to know about this. He was sure that if he did tell them, they’d hold him back, anyway. 

You naïve False Hero, this was  _ never  _ your fight to begin with. You’re just another life to play with.

He snuck away from the ranch, and set off to find the demon that killed his brother. WInd had a feeling that BEN would come to him rather than Wind having to go find him. 

“Show yourself, you pansy,” Wind muttered under his breath. 

“You’re really trying to fight me one on one? Was it never mentioned to you that I nearly killed your beloved predecessor?”

Rage and fear stirred in Wind’s chest. The logical side of him knew that this was a horrible idea, picking a fight with a cunning viper, but his emotional side overruled everything else. This  _ needed _ to happen, he wasn’t going to let BEN get away with killing Warrior so dishonorably! 

Wind pointed his sword at BEN’s throat. “You killed my Brother in Arms, and you’re going to pay!”

BEN gave him a lazy smile.  “Perhaps. Or I simply get away with another kill.”

“Once I’m done with you, you won’t be able to kill anything else!” Wind got into a fighting stance. He raised his shield, and readied himself for an attack. BEN started to circle him, his hands behind his back. His dead white eyes lazily searched Wind, any falters, and weaknesses to exploit. Wind kept his eyes on him, also searching for any sign of aggression in his form. 

“I’ll let you attack first,” BEN said,  “It’s only fair.”

Wind knew better than that. You never attack first. He stayed where he was, and glared. 

BEN shrugged.  “Your loss.”

First BEN was standing still, perfectly in Wind’s line of sight. The next moment, BEN was a whirlwind of blades, barraging him with attacks left and right, making himself purposely difficult for Wind to keep up with. Wind really was over his head, wasn’t he? 

BEN was fast. Too fast. He zipped out of the way whenever Wind stabbed or slashed, and Wind always had to keep his Shield up and stay on the defence. BEN rarely gave him a chance to fight back. 

Wind lost track of where BEN was going to be next. Then he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head, his vision faded, and everything turned black as his senses failed him. He didn’t ever feel his body thudding on the ground, and he didn’t ever hear BEN’s awful cackle. 

You naïve False Hero.

* * *

The evening rolled by, and Time was rounding up the boys for dinner. It had been a while since anyone saw Wind, and Time was growing very worried. 

“Wind?” Time called out, “where are you, we’re having dinner!” This was worryingly odd. He was usually one of the first boys to get in line, so to speak, when they had meals. He would have been at the table by now. Time looked around the ranch more, and finally decided to go inside to ask the others. 

“Has anyone seen Wind?” He asked the others. 

Most movement stopped. Eyes widened, realizing what could have happened. 

“When was the last time you guys saw him?” Four asked. 

Twilight drummed the table nervously. “He was in the barn working with the pigs, wasn’t he?” 

“Yeah, I saw him there, but after I was done with the horses, he was gone! I assumed he was done!” Wild looked guilty of losing track of him. 

“Now’s not the time to panic, we need to look for him. In groups. If anyone finds BEN, don’t engage with him.” Legend said. They all paired off, and began looking for their lost Sailor. Each group looked everywhere, each spot being checked thrice, and there was still no sign of Wind. 

“Do you think he left the Ranch?” Hyrule bit his nails as he worried. 

“That would be a stupid idea and he knows that,” Legend criticized. 

“But think about the position he’s in, Veteran,” Four rationalized, a purple tone to his voice, “He just lost someone very dear to him, and people cope differently. He could have tried to go looking for revenge.”

“He would have been a very messed up mindset for that to happen,” Legend mumbled, crossing his arms. “This is why you think before you act.”

“Maybe he did!” Hyrule countered , “He could have rationalized his way into that mindset.” 

“That he certainly did.”

They turned to find the one responsible for the pain of loss. 

“What did you do with Sailor?” Legend’s tone was dangerous. Hyrule whispered a warning to not engage with him. 

“Be sure to give this to Link,”  BEN raised his hand to drop a necklace, one that stayed on his hand by the string wrapped around his finger. The necklace was this dull looking charm, one of a pastel butterfly colored in blues, pinks, and yellows. 

A necklace that would always hang around the Sailor’s neck. 

“You…” Legend’s brave face faltered. He stepped forward, but then took two steps back. 

“Well?”  BEN goaded, swinging it forward a little.  “You gonna claim it?”

They all knew better than to take it from him. They all stayed in place. BEN smiled. 

“I promise that I won’t fool you.”

“What gives you the arrogant idea that we’d trust you?” Legend snapped. 

“Honesty is the best policy.”

Hyrule looked at Legend pleadingly. “We need to get that from him, Vet.” BEN dangled the necklace in a taunting manner. Four looked at the pendant with a serious tenseness, as if trying to coax it to him. He took a deep breath, let it out, put on a brave face, and took a step forward. 

“Smithy,” Legend started warningly. 

“I know what I’m doing,” is all what Four said. He continued to slowly approach BEN. Hyrule and Legend stood still, but tense, ready to pounce if the slightest thing happened. Four reached out slowly, and grabbed the necklace with the careful movements of an animal being offered food from a suspected enemy. BEN did nothing but stand there, waiting. For what, Four didn’t know. He took the necklace from BEN slowly, and stepped back quicker than he probably should have. 

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?”  BEN asked innocently.  “You should be glad that I keep my promises... For the most part.”  The innocent look on his face turned into one of malevolent mischief. In the blink of an eye, BEN was gone once again, leaving the trio alone with only the necklace of a fallen comrade. 

Four looked down at the necklace he held loosely in his hand. Another hand went to grab it from him, and his grip relaxed, allowing it to take it from him. 

Hyrule held the pendant with mournful reverence. “The Old Man is not going to be happy.”

“Why would he not?” Legend asked, gently taking the pendant from Hyrule, “I’m honestly kind of afraid of what he’ll do when we tell him what we found.” 

“I don’t wanna be there when he does,” Hyrule admitted. “Who wants to tell the others?” 

There was a silence within the trio. 

“I’ll tell the others,” Four volunteered, “I’d hate to see anymore heartbreak on Pop’s face, but it has to be done.” 

“Thanks, Smithy,” Legend patted the smallest hero on the back. “Let’s get back. The others are probably getting really antsy. That is if they gave up looking, which, knowing us, I doubt it.” 

* * *

Time was pacing the floor, mulling over where he and Sky could have missed Wind. Did he forget to look somewhere? Did Wind leave? He couldn’t have left, he knew that BEN was out there! … he knew that! Right?

Twilight and Wild drudged into the room, eyes downcast. They told Time everything he needed to know about their success. 

“Couldn’t find him?” Sky voiced. 

“He must have left the ranch,” Wild theorized. 

“He couldn’t have!” Time shouted. Nearly everyone in the room flinched. “He knew better than to pick a fight with that  _ thing!”  _

“Didn’t he have a very tight knit relationship with the Captain?” Malon asked, “He could have gotten himself into a bad mindset.” 

Time paced more. He gripped his hair, not wanting to face the truth. 

The more you try to run from the truth, the more it hurts. I thought you learned that the hard way, Old Friend.

THe door opened again, Legend, Four, and Hyrule walking in like a funeral procession. Hyrule walked up the stairs, saying nothing. Legend stood to the side looking at the floor. Four walked up to the Old Man, something clutched in his hand. He looked up, red distressed eyes staring into Time’s. He raised the hand that was holding something to Time. 

“BEN gave this to us,” Four whispered. He opened his hand to reveal the necklace that Wind always wore. The Sailor called it a Joy Pendant, didn't he? Time didn’t feel joy. Not at all. 

  
  


Time’s countenance reflected the shocked dread that he felt. His shoulders fell, and he took the pendant from Four’s small hand. He looked at it, as if asking for closure that it couldn’t give. He stared at it, and after a very long while, the hand that held the Sailor’s joy pendant closed around the charm, and fell to Time’s side. He bowed his head in hopelessness.

“I’m so sorry,” Four said, red tears bubbling up in his eyes. 

Time said nothing. He simply turned slowly, and dragged his feet upstairs. They didn’t see him at all that night after that. He had skipped dinner, his appetite desitagrating. The only one who saw him afterwards was Malon, who found him weeping at the side of their bed, praying for the first time in years. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is gonna be _very_ heavy, so a heads up.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SUICIDE ATTEMPT ALERT!!! SUICIDE ATTEMPT ALERT!!!! DO NOT READ IF YOU CAN’T HANDLE SUICIDE ATTEMPTS!!!!!  
> Everything is _fine_ , Fidget, shut up.  
> *screams into the void*  
> SHUT UP!!!!   
> BUT IT’S SO DETAILED!!!!!!  
> GOOD!!!!!!!  
> The suicide part stops after the purple text. You can also start reading after the line, but I still recommend the after the purple text because story. Sorry if this chapter seems choppy. (now that I think about it, this entire chapter could be skipped, I can provide a summery at the end notes.

Time wasn’t able to sleep that night. Not that he could, anyway. 

Still have scars from Termina? How cute. 

He thought of a captain downed and executed during war. He thought of a poor struggling seaman lost at sea. It haunted him. It made him wonder how many more he’d lose. It made him wonder what he could possibly do to make the pain stop. 

_i love them. i love all of them. i have to keep all of them safe._

He looked back down at the pendant that was still in his hand. He thought about BEN’s motives. He was made to kill him, right? What could he do to make him stop? Would BEN stop once he died? He thought about the others. He thought about the pain that BEN gave them with taking away two of their brothers. He thought of his wife, and the child that they would have. 

_..._

_BEN is just going to kill me anyway. Might as well stop the suffering on their part. If i die, then BEN will go away, right? He’ll stop, right?_

You really think I will? Your death does nothing to me.

He got out of bed. Kissed his wife one final time. He went to where the boy _s_ were sleeping. He looked over them all. He went over and kissed each and everyone on the forehead or cheek, and left the house. Well, before stopping in the kitchen to grab a knife and writing a note. When he reached the doorway, he hesitated. Did he really want to do this? He thought about what BEN had done. He thought about the past, and the present. He thought about the suffering. He took a breath and kept going. 

He knew that a river was nearby. How poetic, that he would die near the river. Might as well. If he wanted to protect his family, then he might as well. If he wanted to keep his boys and wife safe, then he might as well. If he wanted to make sure his unborn child is raised in a safe home, not terrorized by a psychopath with a bloodlust, then he might as well. 

His child. He… he needs to be there for it...

The thought passes. 

No use in thinking of that now. He _was_ keeping his child safe. He was keeping them all safe by doing this. He deserved it. He deserved it. 

_ i deserve it.  _

He knelt by the river, knife in hand. They were shaking. He was shaking. Afraid. 

_ Coward,  _ He scolds himself, _ you’ve been up against worse. you’ve killed things that shouldn’t even be  _ killable. _ Yet you can’t even kill yourself? _

He used this to fuel his hand up to his wrist. Dang. he should have brought the Biggoron Sword and stabbed himself in the chest. Oh well. This works. He deserved a slow painful death anyway. 

_ i deserve it. _

Blood spilt and hit the ground. 

It didn't hurt that much. 

Nevermind. It hurt a lot. 

But he was used to pain. So used to it. An old friend. 

_ i deserve it. _

He laid on the ground, letting himself bleed out. He cut pretty deep, and no one will find him here. Right? He closed his eyes. Letting the pain invelop him.

_ i deserve it. _

_ i deserve it. _

_ i deserve it. _

“Oh no,” a distorted voice chuckled darkly. “We’re not done yet. The fun has only started!”

His tired eyes opened a bit, seeing that demon child holding a needle and thread. The boy kneeled next to him, testing the sharpness of the needle. 

“Let’s fix you up, shall we?”

His left wrist flared up in intense pain. He wanted to let out a scream, but he couldn’t find the energy for it. Only pathetic wimpers escaped his throat. 

He kept his eyes closed. It was the only thing that he could do. The pain of a needle going through his skin over and over and over again was getting to be too much. It took longer than it should have. BEN was moving slowly on purpose. 

“We’re almost done,” the demon said. “I just need to do your other wrist.”

After the needle reached the end of the wound, the thread was cut on his left wrist. The agony started up in his right one. Tears rolled down the sides of Time’s face. 

In and out and in and out went the needle. Stitching and pulling skin together. Time felt everything. Every pinprick when the needle came through one side of his skin and out the other, every tug when BEN pulled the thread tight. The thread was cut on the other wrist after a long time of agony. 

“There!”  BEN declared, “All finished!” 

A lingering throb of pain _ached_ in Time’ wrists. Why did BEN stitch them closed again? He thought BEN wanted him dead! Did he want him alive to hurt the others? He thought that he didn’t matter. 

“You…” Time started. “Don’t hurt my wife… Don’t hurt my boys…”

BEN chuckled. “Listen,” he cooed, stroking Time’s hair. “I won't harm that redhead that you’ve grown to love, as long as you don't hurt yourself. You will not die by your own hand, because I **will** **be** **the** **one to kill you.** BEN gripped Time’s hair harshly and jerked his head back. “ ** _₮Ⱨ₳₮'₴ ₥Ɏ JØ฿!!!”_**

* * *

Malon woke up a bit nauseous, but still better than the days before. She sat up slowly, taking care so she wouldn’t get dizzy, and stretched. It was still early in the morning, and she wouldn’t be surprised if the boys were still asleep, as this was their relaxation spot. She looked to where her handsome husband slept. 

Only to find that spot empty. 

Where was her Fairy Boy?

She assumed that he was downstairs already, so she went down after getting dressed, taking a slow pace. When she reached the foot of the stairs, she didn’t find him there. Only Wild and Twilight, who were the early risers of the group. 

“Do you know where Link is?” Malon inquired.

Twilight startled at her voice. “No,” he answered. “What I’m hopin’ is that BEN didn’t get him. We just got out of bed, but we were talking.” 

“About what? Her brows furrowed, “You two aren’t goin’ to go after BEN, are ya?” 

“Of course not!” Wild exclaimed, quieting his voice after his outburst, “We were just talking about what BEN’s been doing to us, and trying to figure out why.” 

“He’s been givin’ us dreams, Malon,” Twilight explained, “It’s obvious it’s him. And they’re personalized, especially for us individually. It’s probably a way to tourture the Old Man more by extension.”

“I wouldn't be too surprised if that were the case. Are you sure you guys didn’t see Link?”

The two heroes shook their heads. 

Malon bit her lip. “...Do you think he left?” 

The two looked at each other, dread on both their faces. 

“Wanna go look for him?” Twilight asked. 

Malon nodded. “We should. Link was in a lot of distress last night, and I don’t want to find ‘im in a situation that makes things worse.” 

They set out to find him. They looked everywhere in the ranch, and went to spread their search to the fields. 

“When y’all went to look for Wind, ya didn’t search the woods. They’re a little ways away from the ranch, but sometimes Link would go there when he was feelin’ nostalgic.”

It took a while to scour the edge of the woods. They thought about where Time would wander off to here and Malon told of a river that was a bit farther in. 

“Perhaps he wanted some time to himself?” Twilight wondered aloud. It was clear he was looking on the optimistic side.

Wild had a different train of thought, however. 

_‘What if he hurt himself?’_ He kept thinking. _‘He seemed pretty hopeless last night. What if bad thoughts overtook him?’_ He wasn’t new to the types of thoughts that overtook judgement either. Feelings of failure. Feelings of worthlessness. 

One could assume that Time felt something similar. But why?

Twilight looked at Wild knowingly. It seemed that he had those same disturbing thoughts concerning their leader and father figure as well. 

“What are you two boys thinkin’?” Oh Hylia, they were too obvious!

Wild decided to be blunt. “What if…” his voice grew quiet, “What if he hurt himself?”

Malon’s eyebrows raised in suspicion. “What do ya mean ‘hurt himself’?”

Silence filled the clearing. A reluctant silence. A threatening silence. 

“Well,” Twilight fidgeted. (hah.) “he seemed pretty out of it last night, and what if he’s feeling bad about himself?”

Malon realized what they were referring to, and she did _not_ like it. 

“Oh no,” Malon chided, “Let’s not go there.”

“You think he wouldn’t?” a certain distorted voice sneered. They turned to find BEN, a spiteful smirk on his face.

_“You better give my husband back or else.”_ Malon threatened. She would have been able to stare down the goddesses and get what she wanted with the look that she gave him. 

“Or else what?” 

Malon socked him on the jaw. The two boys tailing her recoiled in shock, and BEN fell to the ground. The expression on his face told them that he didn’t care.

_“That’s what.”_

“Nice. You deserve a gold star. Now do you want your body pillow back or what?”

Malon reeled at that. Then she looked _livid._ Wild thought he could see smoke coming from her ears and the start of a fire sizzling in her red hair. **_“Excuse me?”_ **

“Is that a problem, miss?”

**_DO NOT INSULT MY HUSBAND LIKE THAT!!!!_ **

“Waddaya mean? I do that all the time! Just be grateful that I keep my promises.”

“What?” What was he saying? Was there something stopping him from taking their lives? Twilight doubted that. BEN didn’t seem the type to keep promises. 

“Oh, he didn’t tell you guys? How adorable.” BEN pretended to think for a moment, bringing a finger to his chin. “Oh wait! He did! But you just didn't notice the note on the table! _Are you blind?”_

Now the two boys were _really_ worried. There was a note that TIme wrote and they _didn’t find it?_

“What note?” Malon’s voice was lethal, yet there was something in it that wavered. It felt out of place, and neither of the heroes liked it. 

“I have it right here,” BEN pulled out a piece of paper. “Have a look.”

Malon took the note from BEN’s hands quickly, and stepped away. As she read it, her expression morphed into fear. True, unadulterated fear. 

“You boys were right…”

Wild internally screamed. Twi felt faint. 

“It’s so cute,” BEN commented. “Trying to remove himself from the picture. Trying to save his pathetic family from ol’ scary BEN! He should have left the work of death to me though.”

Malon was deathly pale. What BEN was alluding to… he was still alive, right? He was asking if Malon wanted him back, right? 

“He…” She stuttered. “He can’t be dead…” she covered her mouth with her hand. 

“He could be. Who knows?” BEN took back the note from Malon’s limp hands. 

Wild came up to her side and placed his hand on her back. “I’m sure that he’s bluffing,” he whispered. 

Twilight was ready to fight. But he knew better. He saw what happened to Warrior. He knew that Wind was gone. He knew that Time was probably on the brink of death. Or maybe dead already. 

“You said that the Old Man was with you, right?” it was his turn to be calm and lethal.

“Who ever said he was with me?”

“You asked Malon if she wanted him back.”

“Does that really mean he’s in my possession?”

“ **JUST GIVE MY DAD BACK!!!** ”

BEN’s smile widened. “You admitted it. Well, I’m not gonna give him to you just like that. Better find him first before his situation gets worse!”

They all flinched when BEN vanished from sight. 

Twilight screamed. Malon was in tears. Wild looked empty.

“He can’t be dead…” Wild whispered. Mainly to himself. 

“We need to find him,” Twilight declared. “He might be bluffing to get us riled up. We need to get the others.”

When they were back on the ranch’s main lands and were close to the house, they saw Hyrule rushing out of the entry door barefoot. There were tears in his eyes, and a piece of paper was in his hand. “THERE WAS A NOTE ON THE TABLE!!!”

It was on the table and they didn’t see it? 

I wonder who took it that morning.

“We saw,” Twilight confirmed. 

“What do we do now!?” Four looked distressed out of his mind, colors flying across his face, red being the most prominent. “What If he actually did off himself!? Are we gonna find him?”

“I swear that _freak_ is behind this,” Legend seethed. “That note might have been forged.” 

Denial.

“This was his handwriting,” Sky was last to get to the group. “Either BEN is really good at replicating written signatures, or this is genuine. We have to find him.”

“BEN taunted us to look for him,” Wild answered. “There’s hopefully a possibility of him being alive. I hope.”

“Let’s start looking then,” Sky stated. 

They spread out in the forest. Wild and Twilight went together, and Twilight grabbed the crystal that hung from his neck and his form changed into that of a proud wolf. Twilight sniffed the air, hoping to find any trace of the smell of hay and fresh air that Time carried. As they trudged depper, he finally caught a whiff of the metallic smell of blood, and followed it. The two followed the scent with haste, only to find that it ended at what looked like a grave marker. A simple piece of wood torn from a tree that had been crudely labeled _An Old Friend._

_Oh no._

Wild was already crying. Twilight didn’t know what to think. He isn’t dead. He isn’t! He can't be! He still had a family to take care of! 

_“He can’t be…”_ Twilight thought, unable to voice anything as a wolf. Assurance for himself. 

Denial.

“I’ll go get the others,” Wild decided. He didn’t want to be there anymore. Twilight stayed where he was and bowed his head. He could imagine Time screaming when BEN killed him. 

Wait. 

Twilight leaned down to listen to the ground better. 

He could hear very faint screaming. Beneath him. 

He also heard distant thudding underground. 

Panicking won’t get you anywhere, deity killer.

He needed to get him out of there! He quickly transformed back into his human self and called out to Wild. 

“CUB!!!!” Twilight screamed, “TIME’S STILL ALIVE!!!!”

Wild whipped around faster than a tornado. “HE’S STILL ALIVE???”

“Help me get him out!!!”

“But we don’t have anything to dig with!”

Twilight grabbed his necklace again and then he was already digging, trying his best to get Time out of his underground prison. 

“I’ll still go get the others!” Wild ran off and started calling to the others. 

“GUYS!!!” He yelled out. “WE FOUND HIM!!! WE NEED SHOVELS!!!!”

When Malon heard the cook yell out this announcement, she started to worry. Why would they need shovels? This couldn’t be good.

The boys and Malon gathered again, shovels taken from the barn and other tools the boys could use for digging in hand, and found Wolfie digging furiously at a very makeshift grave. 

“He got buried!?” Hyrule yelled. 

“Well let’s get digging!” Legend came near Wolfie and started digging beside him. 

“We heard Time screaming, is he still?” Wild asked. 

Legend paused and looked at Wild with wide worried eyes. He got down on his hands and knees, listening for anything that could be coming from underground. “No, but I hear pounding on something.”

“Okay, good, he’s still conscious,” Four expressed, “He's probably losing a lot of air, we’ll need to work quickly.”

They dug for a while, the process was quick, but not fast enough. It wasn't long after they started digging that the thumping stopped. 

“Guys,” Hyrule said. “I don’t hear anything anymore.”

“Don’t die on me, Old Man!” Wild exclaimed. 

Oh, he will. Just you wait.

They continued to work furiously. Eventually Sky hit something wooden. They worked until they uncovered a shoddy looking box completely and opened it. 

And what they found inside made their hearts shrivel up. 

Time looked worse than Warrior did, If that was even possible. He was deathly pale, and his breathing was dangerously shallow from not getting enough oxygen. His wrists had red stitches in them, and looked like they were bleeding out at one point. It looked like his legs were twisted backwards, and his arms were nearly torn off, hanging on only by the nerves and torn up muscles. His left ear was cut clean off, lying near his head. He must have been in so much pain, banging on the lid of the box while being so impossibly _broken._ Must have been so scared and panicked. 

They took him out of the box carefully, like trying to take a fragile porcelain doll out of its poorly done packaging, and took him home as quickly but gently as possible. Hyrule and Malon looked him over. They gave him potions and bandages and healing salves, anything that could possibly get him _unbroken_ , and then gave him and Malon space. 

Twilight couldn’t sleep that night at all. The image of Time’s destroyed frame was burned into his mind. He never wanted this to happen to Time, now he was steps away from becoming that regretful skeleton that taught him those hidden skills. 

The other heroes were stuck with the same predicament Twilight suffered. They expected to find Time like how they found Warrior, but what they found managed to be much worse than that, and no one had the courage to sleep that night. BEN certainly did this. How could Time ever do that on his own? 

This... _devil_ needed to be stopped. 

But what could they do?

Nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time tries to attempt to off himself, thinking that BEN would go away if he dies. That's my job.
> 
> BEN stitches him up, saying that he won't hurt Malon as long as he doesn't kill himself. 
> 
> The boys notice that he's gone, and BEN shows them a note that Time left. 
> 
> They find a gravestone, and discover that BEN has buried Time alive. 
> 
> they dig the "grave" back up, and take Time back home and try to heal him to the best of their abilities.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That. That was a heavy chapter.  
> That was your fault.  
> I know. At least we get more comfort here and more lore!  
> Yay. Rushed explanations.  
> Oh, shut up.

I’m surprised that they were able to get him home and heal him before he could die. 

I probably shouldn’t be, seeing how determined those  _ heroes _ can be.

They’re getting paranoid. That’s good.

But they’re catching on to a couple things. The Four has a good idea of what I am.

Let him speculate. It doesn’t do much to me anyway.

Link is still suffering. That’s good. Marin’s Murderer is too smart. He’ll be next. After that, I’ll knock on The Shattered One’s door next.

* * *

Legend sat at the table alone, a glass of water in his hand to try and calm himself. The others were trying to sleep upstairs, and Twilight was in another room somewhere. He should probably check up on him.

He was mostly quiet. Despite sleep not being able to find him and comfort him, not that it ever did, he was still exhausted. So exhausted that he was seeing things out of the corner of his eyes. Silhouettes of people long dead, people that don’t belong in this Hyrule, people that didn’t exist. 

I’m sure you miss Koholint, seagull. They were never real to begin with.

A tired and discouraged sigh would escape his lips now and then. A headache started to throb against his skull. He hated this. He could see why Time was suffering so much, and why he was so scared in the first place. He took a small sip from his glass and rubbed his tired eyes. 

“I thought insomnia was an old friend of yours, Thief.” 

“It is, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t get tired,” Legend sighed. He was too tired to deal with this nuisance. 

“True,”  BEN mused, “how do you like the dreams and hallucinations?”

So that’s what they were. “They’re not far from what I’m afraid of, that’s for sure. I personally think you know too much.”

“I had my time to study.” 

“I’ll give you an F for putting effort.” 

“Isn’t that the wrong grade?”

“I don’t care.” 

“No matter. You’re pretty easy to scare. A lot of you are, really. I’m surprised how easy you supposed heroes can break.”

Legend gripped the table. He grimaced and took another sip of water. He noticed how BEN eyed the glass that he held too tightly. 

“We’ve gone through enough, I think you can guess why we’re so fragile.”

“Oh I know why. Especially you. Six adventures, that’s more than any of your companions! Buckets and buckets of trauma for you, that’s for sure! So many fears that one can use against you!”

Legend’s shoulders tensed. His lips pressed into a thin line.

“How does it feel? Being the Hero of destroyed Islands?” 

Legend took the glass of water and let it splash onto the demon. Legend expected for him to retaliate with something deadly. 

He didn’t expect for BEN's body to tear itself apart and put itself back together again.

BEN let out a distorted scream, his form turning into a mass of rectangles, colors of reds, blue, and green flashing everywhere around him. Then he was gone, the sharp “ding!” That would sound whenever he vanished was also distorted. 

Legend stared at where BEN was the moment before. What just happened? 

The door to one of the other rooms in the house burst open and Legend yelped, jumping at the sound. 

“What jus’ happened!?” Twilight fumbled into the room, “are you right!? I heard screamin’!” 

_ “SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”  _ Legend gesticulated to the upstairs floor and put his index fingers to his mouth. “People are trying to sleep!” he whisper-yelled. 

“Sorry,” Twilight apologized, bringing his voice down to a whisper. “I thought that you were in danger and panicked.” 

“All I did was get angry at a demon and threw water at it.”

Twilight blinked incredulously. “That’s… one way to solve yer problems?”

“Apparently.” 

* * *

All the boys were gathered around at the kitchen table that morning. Malon was still upstairs tending to Time. 

Four had a purple pensive look on his face. “We need to figure a plan out,” he stated, “We need to stop this before he kills more of us.”

“But what is there we can do?” Sky asked, “All we know is that he’s dangerous, a hard hitter, and extremely cunning.”

“He also shapeshifts,” Twilight added, “He tricked Warrior by posing as someone that he used to know.” 

“I also discovered that he uh…” Legend was at a bit of a loss for words. “Blurs? He kind of… smears into a bunch of rectangles when he touches water.”

Everyone at the table stared at Legend for a good long minute. “What?”

“Don’t know how to describe it, you just have to see it for yourself.”

“How did you find  _ that _ one out?” Wild asked.

“I threw water at him last night. Don’t ask.”

Four continued, breaking another awkward silence. “He can also make creepy ‘camera’ statues, and enter dreams.”

“And make weapons appear out of nowhere, too.”

“And that. Anything else?”

Hyrule timidly raised his hand. 

“What is it, Traveler?”

“Does anyone else hear the music?” 

There was a pause in the group. 

“What music?” Sky asked. 

“It’s this distorted  _ noise  _ and It  _ never stops playing, _ ” Hyrule held his head in his hands. “Are you sure no one else can hear it!?”

“So he messes dreams up and plays bad music,” Legend summarized, “Good to know.”

“It’s the same exact thing over and over again and I want it to stop!!”

“Traveler,” Legend said, putting his hands on his predecessors shoulders, “Calm down! You don’t have to keep going, we need to focus!”

Sky came up to the panicking hero and soothed him. “Deep breaths, Traveler. Try and think of something that will take your mind off of it, think of something that makes you happy and ground yourself with it.”

Hyrule breathed in through his nose and out his mouth. “I’m okay, I’m okay,” he whispered to himself. 

Doesn’t seem that way to me, Ganon Fodder.

Twilight cleared his throat. “So, the Old Man isn’t the only one  _ he’s _ targeting. Is there anyone else that is experiencing anything?”

“I’ve been hearing weird music in my head, too,” Wild replied. “It might be the same stuff that Hyrule is hearing. I thought it was just a passing tune stuck in my head, but apparently not.” 

Silence.

“I’ve been seeing things,” Four answered. “Mainly things out of the corner of my eye. They appear in the shadows.”

“What type of things?”

More silence. “Statues, I think,” Four continued. “I’m not sure if it’s BEN or… my own imagination.” 

They knew that he was hiding something. They wouldn’t pry. 

Swallow your pride, little boys.

“I hear voices,” Sky stated. “Telling me I’m just a pawn in a big game of celestial chess, among other things.”

More silence.

Legend supposed that it was his turn. “I keep getting hallucinations. Hallucinations of people I see being twisted beyond recognition. Like dark versions of themselves. 

“So he’s been torturing all of us, then.” Twilight realized. “I’ve been seeing things in the shadows, too. Pops must have it worse, since he’s the main target.”

“That begs the question,” Four said. “What do we do when he wakes up? Should we leave him alone? Keep him company?”

“Don’t pry,” Wild said. “We don’t want him to get a panic attack because we asked him too many questions.”

“True.” 

“We should keep him company,” Sky said. “He needs to know we’re okay. I read the note he left, and he wanted to keep us safe from  _ him. _ He sees us as his.”

_ ‘Because we are. Because I am.’  _ Twilight thought to himself. 

“Before we go and start doing our own things,” Four said, “I have a bit of a theory I want to bounce off of you guys.” 

Legend raised an eyebrow. “Pray tell.”

“Whenever BEN’s around, do any of you also feel the magic radiating off of him?” 

Hyrule and Legend nodded. “It feels like the only thing he’s made out of,” the traveler said. 

“Is that what that feeling is when I’m around him?” Wild wondered aloud. 

“It feels otherworldly,” Twilight pointed out, “I can’t tell if it’s dark magic or not.” 

“It has mixes of both,” Legend said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he was made using different types.”

“That’s one of the things I wanna point out,” Four said, “Not the multiple magics thing, but the fact that the aura he gives off feels like some sort of amalgamation.” 

“How so?” Sky asked. 

“There was a night that he approached the Rancher and I. I was able to kind of analyze what I was feeling from him a little, and the aura and magic around him felt… broken. As if he was taken from a bunch of people then stitched together.” 

Hyrule seemed to have a revelation. “That’s why he feels so strange! When he gave us Wind’s pendant, I could feel that same feeling! Almost like a monster that’s made up of different people...” Hyrule’s enthusiasm died, realization dawning on him. “Why does he feel that way?” 

“I think you summed it up perfectly,” Four stated, “it feels like he’s different people rolled into one.” 

Now isn’t that a revelation. I am me. Whether my soul stitched together like a ragdoll or not is none of your concern.  


* * *

They tried to keep their minds off of the things in the shadows, voices and music by doing their usual chores. When Time finally woke up two days later, the dreams they had got more violent. 

Hyrule went upstairs to check on him, trying to combat the music with an improvised tune he hummed. He opened the door as quiet as he could, and took a peek in. Malon beat him to it and was already in the room. 

Time looked horrible. 

He had bags under his eyes, looked malnourished, despite the love and care that the boys and Malon gave him.

He looked like he’d seen too much, and had come back from the dead.

“Mornin’ Fairy Boy,” Malon softly cooed. Hyrule closed the door softly and tip toed in.

Time said nothing as he lay on the bed, staring at nothing. 

“Link?”

Still nothing. 

Tears. 

“i’m sorry,” he wheezed. One could barely hear him. “i’m so very sorry.”

“Please,” Malon carded her fingers through his hair. “Don’t blame yerself over anythin’.”

He covered his face with his hands. The tears were ugly, but silent. 

“i just want you all safe.”

“We are,” Hyrule said. “We’re all right here.”

A sob escaped his throat. “i… I've endangered all of you.”

“We can take care of ourselves. We care for you too, and we’re always willing to help!”

Time raised his hands and started signing. “You don’t know what i had to do to imprison him in the first place.”

Silence. Neither Malon or Hyrule had anything to say to that. 

They let Time cry. 

What else could they have done? He needed this. But he also needed to know that he was loved. So Hyrule stayed with him. He decided that Malon was the only one that could hug him at the moment. He just got out of a box three feet underground not two days ago. 

Hyrule and Malon checked him over, making sure that he was alright. A couple of the boys visited for a while, wanting to keep him company, telling him indirectly that they were okay. Over the course of an hour, it was only Time and Malon again.

“Link,” Malon cooed. “We need to kill that Child.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Time rasped curtly. 

“We might have to get help from that mask.”

Time did not like that. “i am not using that goddess forsaken mask.” 

“You have other boys that love you.”

“i am  _ not _ letting any of them near it, and you can’t make me! You see the marks it gave me last time!” He gestured to the right side of his face.

“Link. you can’t just keep suffering like this. Either you and the rest of us fight back, or we all die.”

Silence. Time turned his head away from her. 

Malon knew that her husband was extremely stubborn. She knew that she’d get in trouble with him if she tried to do anything on her own, but she knew what they were up against, and she wasn't having any of it. 

If he wasn’t gonna do it, she was gonna have to do it herself, and nothing would stop her. 

She kissed Time’s forehead. “Do you want some time alone?”

“...No…” He answered. “Don’t leave me alone... please… you can send in one of the other boys if you want to leave...”

“Alright. I’m fine staying for a little longer.”

She stayed with him until he fell asleep again. Then she went to find his belongings. She knew that he kept the mask with him on his adventures. 

She found his traveling bag in their room, and rummaged through it quietly. She found it buried in one of the inside pouches. 

The Fierce Deity Mask. 

Time may be afraid of it, but she knew no fear. 

Ignorance is bliss. 

She wasn’t one to run in fear from her problems. And she wasn’t going to let her husband suffer any longer. 

She hid it somewhere she knew Time wouldn’t find it, and promised herself she’d use it next time that freak of a child showed up at her doorstep again. 

Little did she know that said freak was watching from a distance. 

And he didn't like where this was going. 

Don’t think I don’t know what you all have been doing.  **_YOU ARE DONE PLAYING WHEN I SAY YOU ARE DONE PLAYING._ **


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter didn't originally exist either. sorry if it's choppy at the beginning. Nevertheless, enjoy!

Twilight was out tending to the horses when the music got louder. He tried to tune it out, but it just got so unbearable. He finished up his work after a while of trying his best to keep his cool, and tried his best to calmly leave the stables. Once he was outside, he ran. Just to get some steam out. He didn’t run far, well he thought he didn’t. Lucky him that Sky was there to stop him.

“Where are you going?” Sky called out to him.

“Nowhere,” Twilight answered. “I just want this Goddess forsaken music to _STOP!_ ”

Sky gave him a sympathetic look. “I can hear it too. But I just hum along. I think it sounds nice!”

...What?

_“Give me your optimism,”_ Twilight demanded. _“NOW.”_

“I wish I could,” Sky said. “I would definitely share it with you if that were possible. Should we give you something to do to take your mind off of it?”

“What is there for me to do!?”

“You can help me with the cuccos.”

Twilight hesitated. “Sure. Take my mind off this madness.” 

“You know, I wonder if BEN ever gets tired.”

“What do you mean? Also, your gonna have to speak up, the music is a tad too loud.”

“Well, I’m just thinking, he’s doing all this tormenting to nine different people, don’t you think it would wear him out a bit?” 

“You think it would. I hope it does.”

“I do too. But all we can do is keep Time safe from him and fend him off.”

“Or try to kill him. Wild said that he can possibly be killed using very powerful magic.”

“We have a ton of that, just ask the Veteran and the Traveler!”

“I’m just content in keeping him occupied while everyone else does the magic stuff.”

“Fine by me. I wonder how he’d handle the Master Sword. Or even the Magic Sword for that matter.”

“I don’t know. Probably not all the well.”

Suddenly the music stopped. 

“Uhm,” Sky puzzled. “Where did it go?”

“Finally we’re free of it,” Twilight commented. “The conversation helped.”

“I really don’t like this. I’m gonna go check what’s outside.” Sky left the cucco pen. Twilight debated whether to follow, or to keep an eye on the cuccos. He opened the door and looked around for Sky. 

He didn’t see anything. But he did hear yelling in the distance. 

“Sky?” He called out. He ran to where the yelling was. He turned a corner to find Legend and Sky trying to defend themselves against _him_. 

Before Twilight could hollar to the rest that BEN was here, he noticed that Twilight and possibly others were starting to get involved, and shoved Sky away and grabbed Legend, disappearing before anyone could do anything else. 

Sky stood up again, and looked for the two. “Did he really just take the Vet and run!?” 

“Looks like it,” Twilight sighed.

“He knows better than to take us all on,” Sky realized. “He’s picking us off one by one.” 

Twilight ran a hand through his hair. “What do we tell Pops?” 

Sky ‘s shoulders sagged. “I… I don’t know.” 

* * *

LEgend felt dizzy after getting blinked to a different spot on the map, but despite his head feeling woozy, he still fought to get out of the demon’s grip. He felt cold clawed fingers press tightly into his neck, but he still struggled, even as his vision slowly faded.

“This one is gonna be a pest,” BEN said aloud, “I should really just kill you now.” 

Legend jerked his elbow into BEN’s gut, earring a cry from the demon. He cherished that sound. 

BEN let out a growl, picked him off the ground and threw him into a tree. He went over and kicked the veteran to make sure that he was unconscious. 

“Demise below,” BEN sneered, “I should have picked you off first.” 

“Who’s that?” A shaky voice behind him asked, “Vet?” 

“Shut up, Island Boy,” BEN snapped, “do you want to get yourself gibbited?” 

Wind said nothing, shifting uncomfortably in the spot he was tied up in. BEN huffed and held the veteran’s head, turning it towards the Sailor. 

“What do you think I should do with this one,” BEN wondered, “I know you don’t want him dead, but if you had to choose between death and never ending torture, which would you want?” 

“Would you even be able to keep up with torturing him for eternity?” Wind coughed. 

BEN shrugged. “If I get bored, I’ll find a new way to inflict pain. You never answered my question.” 

Wind lowered his head. He knew what BEN was going to do if he gave him his honest answer. He wanted to save the Veteran, but what if they’re both stuck here, waiting for people that will never show up to save them? HE heckled those thoughts off of the stage of his mind. He had hope that the others would find them. He knew they were all stubborn, and that they were also determined. 

“Torture,” he answered. He hoped that we wouldn’t regret this decision.

“Deciding to buy time huh?” BEN caught on to what Wind was trying to do. “Perhaps I won’t go so easy on the Vet. He’s been through a lot, I’m sure he’ll take it like a _champ._ ” 

Wind’s large eyes widened in panic. He could only watch as BEN dragged the unconscious hero away. He struggled in his restraints, but there was nothing he could do. He could only pray that the others would find them.

* * *

“I’m getting really _really_ tired of this,” blue hands gripped Four’s hair in stress. “He took the Veteran?” 

“Basically plucked him off of the ranch like a plant,” Twilight grimaced. 

Four let out an angry sigh. “What do we do now that he’s gone?” 

“I honestly don’t know,” Sky sighed, “I hope that he gets out of that situation alright.” 

“There's no telling what will happen at this point. I have a feeling that we’re all going to be picked off soon.” 

* * *

Legend bit back a shout of pain as he felt his arm twist back in an unnatural angle. If BEN wanted to torture him, he wasn’t going to get the satisfaction of hearing him scream. 

“I know you’re in a lot of pain,” BEN commented, twisting his arm further, “The fact that not even a whimper has come out of your lungs is commendable, for sure.” BEN let go of his arm suddenly, letting it twist back and fall to his side. Legend cringed as he suppressed a groan. 

“Should I do what I did to the Warmonger?” BEN asked as he sat crisscrossed in front of the Veteran, “Break you and leave you for the others to see, then rip you away from them the next morning?” 

Legend glared at the demon. _‘I’d rather you give Wind back to the others and then kill me in exchange’_ went unsaid. He knew better than to give BEN ideas. 

“I prefer not being killed the same way Pretty Boy did, might tarnish my reputation.” 

“I thought you’d want to be killed alongside your comrades. Judging from what you said, you might not want to put up so much of a struggle. The Lady put up a good fight, similar to you.” 

Did… did BEN just call Warrior a lady? Legend chuckled under his breath despite the environment and how much pain he was in. It earned a couple nervous snickers from Wind as well. 

“Isn’t that nice,” BEN drawled. “I made a hero laugh. I wonder what else I can do.” 

* * *

After so much pain and struggling to stay silent, Legend and Wind were left alone for the night. Whatever BEN was doing, they didn’t know. All they knew was that they were both alone, and had the opportunity to plan something. 

“Do you have anything on your person that could be used to get out of here?” Legend Whispered. Wind was on the other side of the tree that they were tied to. 

“If I still do, I can’t reach them,” Wind replied. “I don’t know if BEN took them or not.” 

“If we can figure out how to get out of these ropes I can just sprint the two of us back home.” 

“That is if your legs are still functional after this.” 

“I got a feeling.” 

Wind wriggled himself, trying to get something free from the binds that kept him tied to the tree. “He tied these really tight,” He said quietly.

“Yeah, he ties a wicked knot.” 

“Did he take away your knife?” 

“I still feel it in my boot. I thought BEN was smarter than that.” 

“At least we know he isn’t perfect.” An idea seemed to hit Wind. “Can you try taking your boot off?” 

“So I can get the knife?” 

“Yeah!” 

“If BEN gets here at the last minute, we’re gonna have to improvise.” Legend usd his other foot to try and take the boot off heel first. It was difficult to try and take off while bound to a tree,but he eventually got it off, and the sheathed knife fell out. 

“Kick it back here so I can try and grab it,” Wind said. 

Legend guided the knife to where wind was, and after Wind struggled to reach it with his own foot, he was able to guide it to himself and grab the knife. He unsheathed it, and then tried to hook the blade under the ropes. 

“I hope this works,” Wind whispered. His heart was thumping in his chest. If BEN saw them, they would be in big trouble. 

“Anything you want me to do?” Legend asked. 

“Can you try to get the rope a little looser for me?” 

“How?” 

“Like uh… press yourself closer to the tree so I have more slack.” 

Legend sidled closer to the tree and sucked in a breath. Wind got the knife to get under the ropes and started to try and cut them. It was a slow process, way too slow for either of their tastes. Legend let his breath out slowly, but tried to keep himself as flat as possible. He could hear some ropes snapping. 

“Is it working?” Legend gasped.

“Yeah,” Wind said, “you don’t have to flatten yourself anymore.” 

Legend relaxed a little, and let out a small sigh. He could hear more snapping, and the ropes began to loosen. 

“Almost there,” Wind whispered. 

“Can’t wait,” Legend replied. He started to try and get his foot back in his boot. He could only get it in through the bootleg. More ropes went slack. 

“Almost there,” Wind said, the knife almost through the last row of ropes. His heart beat like a loud drum in a storm-like symphony. 

“Don’t get excited,” Legend chided. The last rope fell. 

Wind cleared the ropes out of his way and stood up, leaning on the tree for support as a head-rush came and went. 

“You okay, Vet?” Wind tiptoed to Legend’s side. Legend was pulling his boot on with his good arm, and stood up, also using the tree for support. 

“Good as I can be right now,” Legend answered, “Do you have anything that he took away?” 

“I’m just ready to get out of here, I’m fine with getting another set of lock picking equipment if I never see it again.” 

“Good, because I really want to get out of here as soon as possible. I can get us back with my Pegasus boots, but it’ll be a struggle to carry you with a bad arm.” 

“I can hold on to you on your back.” 

Legend kneeled down to let Wind up on his back. Wind wrapped his arms around his neck, and wrapped his legs around his waist. 

“Are we secure? You in any pain?” 

“Lifelines secure, and my everything hurts.” 

“Keep a good grip, this is gonna be a _ride.”_

“Especially when there’s someone to chase you.”

The moment Legend heard that voice, he activated the pegasus boots and took off running. Legend tried to keep steady, mindful of the sailor on his back. He didn’t look back, he knew that would only slow him down or give him a greater chance of running into something. He kept running forward, trying to keep himself steady. He couldn’t hear anything else besides the rushing wind and the faraway rustle of the leaves that sounded like the cheer of an audience goading him on to reach the ranch before BEN could catch up. That is if he could catch up. Legend didn’t know if he could run at these speeds. He knew he could teleport, but what else? 

Before he knew it, they were out of the forest. He could see the border of the ranch and the road leading up to it. All he needed to do was get to the ranch before anything bad happened! 

“Speed up,” he heard Wind shout, “He’s getting closer!”

Hylia! Did he also have Pegasus boots? Legend pushed his legs further despite the ache that built up in his calves and gained more speed. 

“Vet,” there was a tinge of worry and panic in Wind’s voice, “He looks like you!” 

...what? … _WHAT?_

Legend felt the temptation to look behind him tickle the back of his brain. He hated that feeling, and forced it to go away. He wasn’t looking back, he wasn’t looking back, they were so close!- 

ł'₥ Ɽł₲Ⱨ₮ ฿ɆⱧł₦Đ ɎØɄ.

Legend felt Wind get ripped away from his back, and heard a scream. He screeched to a halt, and turned around to find… 

Was that him?

He saw a twisted version of himself holding Wind in a vice like grip, a wicked grin on his face. He looked sickly, and just so _wrong._ It looked like BEN ripped Legend’s face off and put it on his own like a mask. Legend wanted to gag. 

“Just imagine if this little Island Boy was a girl with red hair you used to know,” BEN chuckled, “A girl with a beautiful singing voice, and a love for birds, what was her name again?” 

Legend didn’t have anything on his person besides the knife. He couldn’t rush at BEN, he’d probably throw Wind in front of him. He circled to the back and tried to get BEN from the back. He was surprised that BEN wasn’t fast enough to catch him. He slashed at the arm that still held Wind with his good arm, and the form that BEN took flickered away, leaving his usual form in the twisted one's place. Legend pried BEN’s hand off of Wind with difficulty. He threw Wind onto his back and took off once again. His legs screamed to stop and take a break, but he _didn’t have time for that_. He kept running, even when he got past the first gate of the ranch. He only started to slow down once he got into the main part of the ranch, and arrived at the front door. He opened the door and rushed in, slamming the door. He checked the windows, making sure that BEN wasn’t out there. He couldn’t see anything. 

I AM EVERYWHERE.

Wind let go of Legend, and shuffled to the couch nearby and melted into it. He shook. Legend went to go sit next to him, but only collapsed on the floor, panting heavily. They both heard fast heavy steps thumping down the stairs and found Wild at the foot. He gasped when his eyes beheld the both of them. 

“Vet?” he whispered, “Sailor?” 

Wind waved at him lethargically, tiredness reflecting on his face, and pulling under his eyes. “Hi,” he rasped. 

Wild stepped closer, then bolted up the stairs. He returned later with Twilight, Four, Hyrule, and Sky. they all have their different reactions, and surround the two with cautious hugs and worry. 

“I’m so glad that you’re not dead,” Twilight whimpered, tears coming to his eyes.

“Same,” Wind agreed, “What happened while I was gone? Where’s the Old Man?” 

“Pops…” Wild hesitated, “BEN did some pretty bad stuff to him.”

Wind lifted his head and his countenance showed _fear._ “What did he do?” 

No one wanted to answer. Legend took the responsibility to tell their youngest brother. 

~~Youngest _ bother. _~~

“BEN buried him alive,” the Veteran admitted. 

Wind covered his mouth with his hand. Tears welled up in his wide eyes. 

“I…” Wind choked. Twilight held the sailor tightly. He rubbed the boys back to try and comfort him. 

“I didn’t even think he’d…” Wind sobbed. Legend plopped on the couch beside him and wrapped an arm around him. Hyrule walked over to the two, and checked Legend’s other arm. 

“You guys need healing,” Hyrule announced, “Malon got some more healing and magic potions today. I can help with this.” 

“Thanks, traveler,” Legend sighed tiredly. 

Wind and Legend allowed Hyrule to look over them, and heal them to the best of his ability. After that, everyone trudged up the stairs to go back to sleep. It came to them easier that night, knowing that their lost brothers were found again. 

The next morning was much better than the other mornings previous. Time woke up again, but was forced to stay in bed so he could heal more. Time blinked slowly as he looked out the window, seeing the ever changing canvas that was the sky changing colors from orange to yellow, to blue. Brush strokes painted the clouds, and accented the colors of the sun. the door opened, and his eye left the art of the sky and drifted back to the room he was confined in. He saw the veteran enter the room. He looked like he got into a fight. But he had fresh clothes on, and looked mostly healed. 

“Hey pops,” Legend gently greeted, “I found someone you might want to see again.” 

What was this? Was Legend giving him hope? He didn’t want hope. He couldn’t afford it. He just wanted to sleep. But he wanted to get up out of bed and find… 

Wind? 

He saw the sailor timidly walk into the room. He also looked a bit beat up, but also wore clean clothes and looked mostly healed. What did BEN do to him? 

Time sat up slowly in bed. He stared at the boys in front of him. Was this real? Was this BEN in disguise? Was his good eye finally becoming unreliable? Was this actually Wind he was looking at? 

Wind stepped forward and sat down on the bedside. “Hi Dad,” Wind greeted. “I’m okay. You don’t have to worry about me anymore.” 

Tears flowed freely down his cheeks. He reached out, and Wind scooched closer so Time could hug him. His hold was desperate, not wanting to let go of s son he thought he lost. Legend joined them and leaned against Time’s shoulder gently. Time wrapped an arm around Legend and kept both boys close to him. They stayed there, keeping each other close and not wanting to let go. Time let himself cry tears of joy. 

Maybe there was hope. Maybe they’ll finally be free of this.


End file.
